The Bible on screen

"The Bible"

One of the biggest ratings successes of 2013 is the History Channel's epic miniseries "The Bible." The 10-hour telling of tales from the Old and New Testaments, from producers Mark Burnett, Roma Downey (of "Touched By an Angel") and Richard Bedser, is just the latest example of Biblical dramas on the large and small screens.

By CBSNews.com senior producer David Morgan

Credit: History Channel

"From the Manger to the Cross"

Filmed in Palestine, "From the Manger to the Cross" (1912) depicted the life of Christ from the Nativity to the Crucifixion. Robert Henderson-Bland starred as Jesus; the film's screenwriter, Gene Gauntier, co-starred as Mary.

Credit: Kalem

"The Ten Commandments"

The Golden Calf, in Cecil B. DeMille's opulent 1923 production of "The Ten Commandments." The film actually told two tales: The Biblical story of Moses and the exodus of Jews from slavery in Egypt, with sequences shot in an early Technicolor process; and a modern-day parable in which the hard-learned lessons of the Ten Commandments (or rather, of failing to adhere to them) are dramatized.

Credit: Paramount Pictures

"Noah's Ark"

Michael Curtiz (who later went on to direct, among other films, "Casablanca") directed this 1928 dramatization of the Great Flood. Like "The Ten Commandments," "Noah's Ark" told both Biblical and World War I-era stories, with the deluge presented as a lesson -- and a warning -- for the 20th century.

With production occurring at the same time "talkies" were coming into play, some sequences of "Noah's Ark" were shot with sound-on-disc. But filming was not without terrible costs -- three extras drowned.

Credit: Warner Brothers

"King of Kings"

H.B. Warner starred as Jesus in Cecil B. DeMille's 1928 "King of Kings," in which the Resurrection was filmed in Technicolor.

Credit: Pathe

"Samson and Delilah"

Cecil B. De Mille's "Samson and Delilah" (1949), starring Victor Mature and Hedy Lamarr, won Oscars for its costumes and art direction.

Credit: Paramount Pictures

"Quo Vadis"

"Quo Vadis," Henryk Sienkiewicz's 1895 historical novel about the persecution of early Christians and the decadence of Rome, begat several film and TV versions, including a 1912 Italian spectacle that was an international sensation.

In 1925 Emil Jannings (left) starred as Nero in an Italian-German version.

Credit: First National Pictures

"Quo Vadis"

"Quo Vadis" was remade by MGM in 1951 in glorious Technicolor. The film starred Robert Taylor and Deborah Kerr, and was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor for both Peter Ustinov (as Nero) and Leo Genn (as Petronius).

Credit: MGM

"David and Bathsheba"

Henry King directed the 1951 film "David and Bathsheba," starring Susan Hayward and Gregory Peck as the adulterous couple.

Credit: 20th Century Fox

"The Robe"

The first CinemaScope film, "The Robe" (1953), based on Lloyd C. Douglas' book, starred Richard Burton as a Roman soldier who crucified Jesus.

The movie was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor (Burton), and won two Oscars, for its art direction and costume design.

It also spawned a sequel, "Demetrius and the Gladiators," starring Victor Mature.

Credit: 20th Century Fox

"The Ten Commandments"

Cecil B. DeMille returned to the story of Moses in his 1956 epic "The Ten Commandments," this time spending the entire four-hour running time on the Biblical story of the foundling who grows up to free the Israelites from bondage. The spectacular production featured many memorable set pieces, such as the great plagues upon Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, and the writing of the commandments by the fiery hand of God.

It was nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Picture, and won for Best Visual Effects.

Credit: Paramount Pictures

"The Ten Commandments"

Charlton Heston, who starred in DeMille's "The Greatest Show on Earth," took on what became his most iconic role, as Moses in "The Ten Commandments."

Credit: Paramount Pictures

"The Ten Commandments"

Edward G. Robinson (left) was part of the all-star cast of "The Ten Commandments," which followed a familiar formula for Biblical movies: plenty of wanton depravity and violence, followed by plenty of fire and brimstone.

Credit: Paramount Pictures

"Ben Hur"

One of the most moving moments of 1959's "Ben Hur" was of Jesus -- whose face is never seen -- offering water to the prisoner Judah Ben Hur (Charlton Heston), being transported through the desert to certain death.

Lew Wallace's 1880 novel "Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ" had already been filmed twice before, including a wildly popular 1925 version, but this widescreen color production (directed by William Wyler) proved to be an even bigger box office hit. It also won 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture -- a record later tied by "Titanic" and "The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King."

Credit: MGM

"Barabbas"

Anthony Quinn in "Barabbas" (1961), as a prisoner freed at the time of Christ's crucifixion. Adapted from Par Lagerkvist's 1950 novel, "Barabbas" tells of his transformation from criminal and gladiator to a Christian, who is later crucified himself.

The film also starred Jack Palance, Ernest Borgnine, Arthur Kennedy and Silvana Mangano.

Credit: Columbia Pictures

"Sodom and Gomorrah"

"Sodom and Gomorrah" (1963) starred Stewart Granger as Lot, leader of the Hebrews, who escapes the destruction of the cities of vice. Pier Angeli, as Lot's wife, isn't so lucky.

Robert Aldrich was the director of record on this French-Italian-American co-production, but second unit director Sergio Leone (who oversaw the Italian-language version, and later directed several memorable Spaghetti Westerns) was often listed as a co-director.

Credit: 20th Century Fox

"King of Kings"

In 1961's "King of Kings," Nicholas Ray ("Rebel Without a Cause") directed a tale of a rebel WITH a cause. Jeffrey Hunter starred as Christ.

Credit: MGM

"The Gospel According to St. Matthew"

Enrique Irazoqui as Jesus in Pier Paolo Pasolini's "The Gospel According to St. Matthew" (1964). This production, in the tradition of Italian neo-realist dramas, is one of the most poetic filmings of the life of Christ.

Credit: Titanus

"The Greatest Story Ever Told"

George Stevens' 1965 Ultra Panavision 70 epic "The Greatest Story Ever Told" featured an all-star cast -- including Charlton Heston as John the Baptist, Dorothy McGuire as Mary, Jose Ferrer as Herod Antipas, Claude Rains as Herod the Great, Telly Savalas as Pontius Pilate, Roddy McDowall as Matthew, David McCallum as Judas, and John Wayne as a Roman centurion -- which was topped by Max von Sydow in his first English-language role as Jesus.

Credit: United Artists

"The Greatest Story Ever Told"

Filming "The Greatest Story Ever Told." The troubled production -- which also featured location shoots in Arizona, Nevada, Utah and California -- ran months over schedule and cost approximately $20 million, a staggering sum in its day.

Credit: United Artists

"The Bible: In the Beginning"

Produced by Dino De Laurentiis and directed by John Huston (who starred as Noah), "The Bible: In the Beginning" (1966) told the story of Genesis, including a gauzily-lit sequence featuring Adam and Eve (Michael Parks and Ulla Bergryd). Also starring were George C. Scott as Abraham; Richard Harris and Franco Nero as Cain and Abel; Stephen Boyd as Nimrod; and Peter O'Toole as the Three Angels. Toshiro Mayuzumi's music score earned an Oscar nomination.

Credit: Twentieth Century Fox

"Moses the Lawgiver"

"Announcing the Most Magnificent Human Spectacle Ever Filmed!" Burt Lancaster starred as "Moses the Lawgiver" in a six-hour British-Italian TV miniseries, aired in the U.S. in 1975 on CBS. The following year it was edited into a two-and-a-half-hour theatrical version, released in "Super Spectra Sound."

Credit: Avco Embassy

"Jesus of Nazareth"

When Zeffirelli said in an interview that he planned to portray Jesus as "an ordinary man . . . gentle, fragile, simple," fundamentalist groups (which has not screened the film) protested, claiming it was blasphemous for denying Christ's divinity. Letters to the mini-series' sponsor, General Motors, prompted it to back out, but Proctor & Gamble saved the day, and "Jesus of Nazareth" was aired to much acclaim.

Credit: NBC

"King David"

Alice Krige and Richard Gere retold the tale of a royal affair in the 1985 drama "King David."

Credit: Paramount Pictures

"The Last Temptation of Christ"

Willem Dafoe as Jesus in Martin Scorsese's "The Last Temptation of Christ" (1988), based on Nikos Kazantzakis' novel. The film was a powerful examination of morality, political agency and spirituality, as Christ questions his own divinity and is forced, by Satan, to make a terrible choice.

Scorsese, who had once considered entering the priesthood, tried for years to bring the book to the screen, and received an Oscar nomination for Best Director. The screenplay was by Paul Schrader ("Taxi Driver").

Credit: Universal Pictures

"The Last Temptation of Christ"

Before "The Last Temptation of Christ" opened, fundamentalist activist Rev. Donald Wildmon, of the American Family Association, threatened year-long boycotts against any theatre that showed it. Many chains backed away.

When the movie opened on August 12, 1988, approximately 500 protesters stood outside New York City's Ziegfeld Theatre as ticketholders for the sold-out shows waited to enter. Inside, security men stood throughout the film on both sides of the screen to guard against vandalism.

Credit: David Morgan

"Life of Brian"

Similar protests were waged against the Monty Python comedy "Life of Brian" (1979), which was labeled blasphemous and banned in some areas, as the faithful condemned what they took to be a sacreligious view of Jesus.

But the film made clear from the outset that it was about lampooning others living in the time of Christ (and the conventions of Biblical films) and not Christ himself. As Jesus (Kenneth Colley) is introduced giving the Sermon on the Mount, those attending far in the back -- without the aid of a PA system -- mis-hear his words ("Blessed are the cheese-makers?").

The success of "Life of Brian" led to a brief bubble of religion-themed comedies, including "Wholly Moses" with Dudley Moore, and "In God We Tru$t" with Marty Feldman.

Credit: Orion/Warner Brothers

"The Prince of Egypt"

Animation have been a popular tool for teaching Bible stories to young people. The most ambitious Biblical cartoon was 1998's "The Prince of Egypt," a musical retelling of the story of Moses. It soon became, for a time, the highest-grossing animated film produced outside of the Disney Studio.

"Mary, Mother of Jesus"

"The Passion of the Christ"

The Passion Play, recounting the crucifixion of Jesus, has been a dramatic staple of religious observances of Good Friday for centuries. Mel Gibson used his considerable clout as an action star and Oscar-winning director (for "Braveheart") to push through "The Passion of the Christ" (2004), his beautiful and brutally violent depiction of the final hours of Jesus (Jim Caviezel, of "The Thin Red Line").

It did not matter that the film's bloody and painful scenes made some viewers flinch, nor that the movie was shot in Aramaic, Hebrew and Latin and presented with subtitles, which made film distributors flinch; audiences flocked to theaters. The resulting $600 million box office made "Passion of the Christ" the most successful independently-financed and -distributed film ever made.

Credit: Newmarket Films

"The Nativity Story"

Keisha Castle-Hughes ("Whale Rider") starred as Mary in "The Nativity Story" (2006), about the birth of Jesus.

Credit: New Line

"The Bible"

"The Bible" (2013) is a 10-hour dramatization of stories from the Old and New Testaments. When it debuted on the History Channel on March 3, 2013, it attracted 13.1 million viewers -- more than watched that week's edition of "American Idol."

Credit: History Channel

"The Bible"

Baptism, from the mini-series "The Bible."

Shot in Morocco on the edge of the Sahara Desert, the $22 million production brought in more than 40 Biblical scholars and theologians to help in the research.

Producer Mark Burnett said the mini-series was not just about creating more television. "This is way more than that," he told Cowan. "It's a movement. It's the Bible. It's something everybody should know. Even if you don't want to go to church, or believe, you should know these stories."

Credit: History Channel

"The Bible"

Roma Downey as Mary in the TV mini-series "The Bible."

"It's really an introduction to the Bible," Downey told CBS News correspondent Lee Cowan. "And our hopes were that we would engage people in dialogue, which has certainly happened. Monday mornings after the show had aired, it was water cooler conversation, all across the country."